#That real people have the right to interpret

[ayakashiz]

Reposting this from my twitter thread because it hasn't left my head (and adding a tiny bit more).

Seen so many questionable takes lately about the ivantill kiss, and I know everyone is allowed to have different opinions and interpretations but.

No, Ivan didn’t just pretend to kiss Till for the show. And no, he wasn't trying to make Till hate him either or trying to trigger him over his implied SA to snap him into action.

I think the whole point of the scene (confirmed by the creators) is Ivan finally breaking his mask of perfection and control and giving in to his messy, all consuming feelings, being selfish for once.

Yes, by the end before the strangling starts, he appears more clear headed and now focused on the objective of manipulating the score. But he doesn't really look at it until AFTER he starts strangling Till.

The kiss itself wasn't part of the strategy, or at least not entirely something calculated. Ivan could have skipped the kiss and strangled Till right away and gotten the same result.

The fact that he kissed him AGAIN after he started strangling him, more softly and 'personal', almost like a goodbye or an apology (whether for his selfishness or for their past), tells me he wanted it.

I think a last selfish act doesn't diminish the love he had for Till, it just shows the tragedy of ALNST. Ivan is only human after all. And no matter what kind of mask he built for himself and what illusion of control he had over his life, when faced with the real, imminent possibility of losing Till, he crumbled and did something unexpected.

I have more to say about the Ivan and Sua parallels and how he finally understands her in the Confession comic etc etc but I think I've yapped enough.

I just don't like it when people try to mold the narrative because they're uncomfortable with an unconsensual kiss. It's meant to be painful and heartwrenching, a reflection on Ivan's one sided-feelings and his desperation at the moment —to be seen for the first (and last) time, to not be left behind, to convey his emotions in the only way he could when being seconds away from death.

After all the team confirmed that Ivan is clumsy with emotions and only knows to convey them in 'childish' ways (the nuzzling against his face, the picking fights with Till and teasing him).

I think some people like to think of the kiss as something purely calculated and selfless because it makes it more 'palatable', but in my opinion this take washes out Ivan's character and the flaws that make him just as human, vulnerable and complex as the rest of the cast. He was willing to throw away his life and his perfect image because he wanted something that badly.

[saint-nevermore]

its really wild were at the point of sexuality/gender discourse its acceptable to be fucking cruel to people who dont have the same interpretation of an arbitrary rule that you do so just a reminder. bisexual lesbians have been around longer than youve been alive. transgender men have been calling themselves dykes for decades. asexual people have always existed and been a part of this community. pansexual/polysexual mean slightly different things to different people, and sometimes one label clicks better than another. everyone is playing with these rules differently and every single version is fine and should be celebrated, even if they're 'wrong'

i think it can be a lot of fun to debate what any queer identity could mean, since we're working with gender roles that are always evolving but ultimately not real, but if you're making or reblogging posts insulting other queer people for how they navigate their identity, you should think about that. its not right to point fingers because you don't understand someone's queerness.

we should not be putting so much vitriol and anger into things that are excluding people from parts of the queer community. this is TERF behaviour, and we really don't need it.

[rowanwithaz]

Shared Admiration

So,MHA's end is approaching,and this last chapter has the bkdks brainstorming at the moment,so I wanted to share some of my thoughts on a bkdk (and tgch) ending.

(Chapter 423 spoilers,season 7 spoilers)

Childhood Hero:

I think a lot of people are forgetting about an important factor of Izuku and Katsuki's relationship when analyzing this chapter (and just recent chapters/events in general).

All Might and OFA.

All Might has played one of-if not the biggest-roles in Katsuki and Izuku's characters and relationship.

This is no secret,since the manga and Horikoshi like to spell this out for us as much as possible. Though somehow I feel this gets overlooked pretty often unless it's flat out said. Let me explain what I mean by this.

Most of the time when I see people analyzing Katsuki and Izuku's relationship,they leave out All Might,unless he's specifically in the scene or mentioned,for instance,when Izuku says this:

people see this and they're like, "Izuku admires Katsuki even more than All Might," then kinda just leave it at that. But it's a lot deeper than that,and All Might plays a much larger role in this altogether.

This scene is MUCH more impactful once we consider Katsuki and his feelings for All Might and Izuku. Which at the time were conflicting.

(Which can have a lot of different interpretations,I guess. I kinda see a little bit of a bittersweet double meaning behind this. Katsuki is Izuku's symbol of victory,and All Might is Katsuki's symbol of victory,and All Might is Izuku's symbol of saving,and Izuku is Katsuki's symbol of saving . But the reason Izuku kinda admitting this is a little bittersweet is because Katsuki "caused" their smybol's downfall. So,that's probably why Katsuki saw this as Izuku saying he surpassed him-cuz Izuku has All Might's power,Izuku has the potential over him,and Katsuki took that away from the real deal,which is why I feel the comparison is negative/positive. Yes,Izuku admires All Might and Katsuki,but this is also the downfall of All Might,and in a way Katsuki,since he does have some significant growth after this).

But,All Might has been playing a large role in their relationship for a long while,and considering this doesn't lessen their bond,it only makes it STRONGER. Like,when Katsuki died and Izuku spotted the All Might card right next to his limp body.

it just hits different knowing Izuku held that card in great regard, (or recard-heheheh)

and to figure that Katsuki felt the same way,that Katsuki treasured their moment just as much as Izuku? that's even more fucking tragic. But the point is; they both have a shared love for All Might that keeps them together. I know many people don't like to see it that way,since it might take away from the soul mate factor a tad,but it's true. It kinda makes me think of Togachako,in a sense.

Just because Izuku is the reason Ochako and Toga bond doesn't take away from their relationship,it only adds more layers (especially considering the interesting take on bisexuality) and that explains the All Might key chain Ochako has. It kinda symbolizes how Izuku is Togachako's All Might. For example,when Toga confesses her love to Izuku,he brings up All Might and his admiration for him.

Therefore brining Toga/Ochako's feelings for Izuku on a shared admiration that brings them together in this case.

Why is this even important considering the new chapter? Well,because the ending of it parallels the ending of heroes rising. Like,Izuku falling out of the sky while embers of OFA fade from him,

and not to mention the heroes rising cameos we've gotten thus far,

and what All Might said in chapter 422,

We have to consider the ending to Heroes Rising and how All Might plays a part in their relationship to determine if there's going to be a bkdk (and or tgck) ending.

Katsuki and Izuku still haven't had their real hand hold yet,and Izuku being quirkless while All Might,the leading force of their relationship watches and approves of them as the heroes who win and save once and for all? That's the bkdk ending I think we're getting. I have hope Horikoshi will be very vocal about it being romantic,well mainly because of this bullshit. (I do still believe we're gonna get a talk,mainly because for a lot of their deep conversations earlier in the series had All Might there).

It's cannon dudes

what do you mean these gay bitches got a cherry blossom cover with heart advertisement from the official accounts?? (Also Hori said they were smiling because of All Might complementing them,foreshadowing maybe??)

(This is barely any of it and we're three fucking episodes in)

What do you mean the director starting editing scenes to be more gay after Hori shared the ending with him??? I'm no longer even SLIGHTLY skeptical of the bkdk ending.

[blushstarot]

PICK A CARD: what's your genshin impact life like, and what vision would you have based on it?

DISCLAIMERS & CONTEXT: this is important so don't skip it.

Since genshin has 7 types of visions, it felt unfair to me to just do three options to choose from like I normally do, that being said, I'm doing 9 options, with (hopefully) a short backstory, and then based on that, choose a vision. That means probably some visions would be left out of the post, and/or one or two elements could appear a lot. I could try and control that all the 7 elements appear but it wouldn't be a genuine reading since it'll be some manipulation, and that'll be dishonest and I'm not about that. Also in case anyone want to know what I took into account for selecting the visions, unless stated otherwise, I used this as a guide.

Anything said here about your life/ideals/past events is ONLY related to the hypothetical scenario of you living in genshin, DON'T take the reading as guidance, and DON'T feel that you HAD to experience the things said in real life to be able to relate and have that vision. This is just a fun what if based on your energy right now.

With the explanation and disclaimer out of the way, pick whichever picture you feel more attracted to and skip to that pile.

click on the picture to get a better view if necessary. rant and poll at the end.

Pile 1

the moon, ten of pentacles, ace of pentacles.

So, right of the start, without the interpretation of the meaning of the cards, the moon is in 2/3 of them, and what is the moon associated with? exactly, water. So right when I pulled the second card I knew y'all vision was hydro. I have this feeling that in genshin you would be from a kinda rich family, of course you're not feiyun commerce guild rich, but your family is well off and you don't need to worry about money. Talking about family, it seems that you have a good relationship with them, and they just support you and want you to live a fulfilling life.

So, for how you got your vision. It was at night, you were in your room, laying in bed or looking out the window, and you were thinking about your future. You wanted to continue the family business, how could you not?, your family has always done so much for you, and asked so little in return, this had to be right the way to repay them. At this point someone from your family close to you entered your room, I'm getting father figure vibes, definitely a masculine energy. One thing leads to another and you confide that you want to continue inherit the family business, but something deep within you is toughing at your heart strings, as if to trying to tell you something. This father figure tells you to really think this through and that the feeling you have might be because you are not fully convinced in what you want. Before leaving he reassures you that the family business is not that important, that you don't owe them anything, and that all they've done for you has been out of love. Then when you are all alone again and finally realize that you don't want to stay in the family business, but to do your own thing; a hydro vision appears next to you, and you know you've made the right choice, in wanting to pursue what you are passionate about.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 2

three of swords, king of cups, the empress.

This pile is giving me a lot of mixed messages, like in your genshin life y'all are a kind, compassionate person, and also a very wise, but something tells me that is not dendro wisdom, but more like leader wisdom, if that makes sense. With the empress I see that you have children at you care, could be your actual children, but I'm getting more of a head of an orphanage type of vibe.

For how you got your vision, I'm picturing that you are in some kind of meeting with important people, and they are pressuring you sell the orphanage, so they can close it and make something else where it's located. This is a negotiation they've been trying to make for quite some time now, and are trying to convince you with any way possible to sell it, and at this point you were tired of them showing up to the orphanage trying to convince you; probably some of the older kids starting to piece things together and are worried you might abandon them. So you agreed to go to their company headquarters to negotiate, away form the kids so they can't listen. So once you're there they start to bring up the fact that you're the only staff in the orphanage, and don't have anyone to help you finance and care for the children, and after some other valid arguments you start to doubt if you should just sell it and use the money to open a new one some other place. But something doesn't feel right and you stand your ground, telling them that the property is not for sell, that is your home and the home of all the children, you just can give that away like nothing. When you go back to the orphanage the first thing you see is the kids waiting for you, and you figured that everyone was aware of the rumors of you abandoning them, since you could see some of them had been crying. When you tell them the good news, they run to hug you, and only when one kind complains that they hit their head with something that was hanging from your waist, you realize that the gods had looked at you, and granted you a geo vision.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 3

wheel of fortune, the high priestess, queen of swords.

Something about this pile gives me anemo, but at the same time it feel too different from it. In your genshin life, you went through many hardships, and there was a point were you ended up in a situation where you couldn't defend yourself, and needed help to overcome it. This brought a big change into your life, an that's how you were able to obtain a vision.

Now, the story of how all that happened, actually started long before you got your vision. When you were on your lowest, a feminine energy help you, someone intelligent, witty, honest, and strong. She saved you from some monsters that were attacking you, and even tho you tried to fight back, they were way more stronger than you, so when she came to your rescue you felt ashamed for relaying on another person that happened to pass by and were kind enough to help you. You ended up asking them to teach you how to fight, so you could become stronger and better defend yourself. At first she refused and point out that your intentions weren't pure and that you just wanted to become stronger for selfish reasons. After some meditation on why you wanted to become stronger, you reached the conclusion that you actually wanted to be someone reliable, that everyone could depend on if they ever needed your help. After you told her that, she agreed to train you. You spend day and night learning from her, not only things combat related, but also how to be a better and more kind person. By the ending of your training, you viewed her as a mother figure, even to she wasn't exactly caring and gentle, despised her cold and serious face, you knew she cared for you. When you finally finished training and she said you were ready for anything you wanted to do, she gave you your first weapon as a gift, along with a box that contained a another gift she prepared. When you opened the box, next to the bracelet she bought for you, there was a pyro vision placed next to it, although no one knew how it got there.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 4

ace of pentacles, the emperor, queen of swords (reversed).

I'm getting this strong feeling that you would be some business owner, although I don't get a feeling for anything specific. You also probably come across to others as someone really intelligent on the art of business even if you follow these unorthodox methods that look like they are meant to fail, but for some reason for you it always work out. I feel that some might see you as a stubborn, maybe even ruthless person, like you are definitely a serious type.

For how you got your vision, you were probably in your office, just when you started to see profit from your new business. You went through a lot of challenges to get where you were, but you still weren't satisfied and had a lot of goals in mind, so you never let yourself take a break and were always working. You were drowning in paperwork, quiet literally, you couldn't even see the surface of your desk because of all the papers scattered. At this point you had too much in your mind and were starting to get a headache, so you decided to take a short break to eat something. Before leaving you decided to clean your desk and organize all the papers on it, and while moving them, that's when you realized that there was a dendro vision on your desk.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 5

the sun, page of swords (reversed), queen of wands (reversed).

I'm getting really positive and playful vibes, almost childlike, so my guess is that y'all are really young, or that are in touch with your inner child so much that even in a hypothetical scenario about a video game, you still are coming across as someone curious, with and adventurous spirit, and overall really happy and someone comforting to be around, definitely someone who is always playing with kids and helping those in need. With that being said, it may come as a surprise that y'all are involved in a bad organization, and not bad as in "they don't pay extra hours" bad, but more like "we control all the city and we decide what are the rules and the only valid law is ours" bad. The thing is, I don't really have any information about what the organization does, or what is the thing that you're supposed to do in it, so I think you actually don't really know either, and that's why I can't see it, OR there's too much hidden things around you that you want to keep a secret. Like I feel that you want to bring justice to bad people, and that you joined the organization because they basically lied to you and made you believe that they were good guys. I really have a feeling that you found out about what the organization really does but you're unable to leave so you are ashamed of being part of it or are ashamed of what the organization asked you to do, so you don't want anyone to know. Anyway, this is funny because I can't see how you got your pyro vision either, just that it happened near the time you joined the organization.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 6

ace of wands, four of swords (reversed), ace of cups.

Something happened to you that made you isolate yourself from the word, in the literal sense. I feel that the was a heartbreak, not necessarily romantic, that made you so sad that you decided you needed to go get yourself lost in nature, to meditate and work on yourself. I don't have a clear answer on who that person was, but I'm getting the mixed signal that was a lover or a really close friend that betray you, and your trust, and then not long after they got out of your life, either by death or by moving really far away.

So, how you got you vision is a little interesting. Remember I said you went out and got lost in nature? Well I'm not sure if it was 100% true, I can feel that for quite some time you actually were living in this sort of cave, with a river nearby and some sources of food, but also I can see that some weeks before getting your vision you were living in a really really really dark cave and I believe is some kind of metaphor on were you where mentally at the time. But then this beautiful moment happens where you decide you've been lamenting and torturing yourself emotionally for a long time now, so you gather courage and decide to go out of the cave. and of course at first the sun is too blinding, and you have to close your eyes and cover them with your hand at the same time. Then you start to thinking about going back to the comfort of the darkness, but really want to feel the warmth of the sun in your skin again so you continue forward even with your eyes closed. After some steps you can feel that you are outside but are too afraid to open your eyes so you just keep walking until to feel your feet touch something metallic, you look down and open your eyes to see what it is. And the first thing you are able to see is an anemo vision, and at that moment you know is yours, and it feels as if you've been born again.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 7

the magician (reversed), wheel of fortune, king of swords (reversed).

I don't know how much y'all are gonna like this but listen, someone from this PAC had to be the bad guy, surely from 9 piles not everyone was going to be good people... it's you guys, y'all are the bad ones, and you know it and you aren't ashamed of it (remember this is about your genshin life and that I'm not actually saying that in real life y'all are bad people). So, how do I put this. Y'all actually don't have a vision right now, you will, you will soon, I promise, just not right now.

Okay so, give a chance to explain. Y'all are power hungry, ruthless, tyrant, or at least that's how the others perceive you. They see you like an authority regardless of your ethics and morals not aligning with what everyone considers as "good", and they trust your judgment in a way, since you seem so disciplined and don't allow yourself to doubt on what you believe. That being said, I so feel that there's some major event that is going to shake your foundations, and send you on a spiral of some kind of identity crisis, and realizing that the things you believed in were wrong, or weren't even true at all. When that happens and you try to seek support on someone you trust, they're gonna deceive you again and betray you, which in return will amplify all the negative and complicated emotions you are feeling, and somewhere along your journey of change and acceptance is when you're going to get a cryo vision that's going to make you company for the rest of your life.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 8

ace of cups (reversed), four of swords, ace of wands.

So, you guys had a lot going on, that left you in a really bad mental space. With the ace of cups we can assume it was something like a wedding or engagement getting cancelled, but that doesn't have to be necessary it, since I'm also seeing that there was some type of social event where there was something you did and people didn't approve that left you so anxious and/or embarrassed that you had to leave early, so if you're not vibing with the wedding/engagement thing, it could be that. The point is that that event made people single you out and start to be more wary of you and more hostile. This left you feeling overwhelmed since you always thought that you were well liked in the community, like at the end of the day it wasn't that serious to them, but for you it hit really hard and made you see that maybe the world wasn't really like you believed.

At the end you allowed negativity to really set in your life, until at some point you decided that you needed some peace and quiet, make some introspection, relax and really think about how you are going to life your life from now on. Thankfully you found a solution once put your mind into it, and made a plan of moving somewhere else, to start again, so actually in that same day you started looking into it and by the end of the day of the day you had almost everything sorted out. You went to sleep really excited to the though of finally having your life back in control again, and there was definitely this new spark in your eyes and this feeling that almost didn't let you sleep, thankfully you did, and when you wake up you'll start this new life and the first thing you'll see will be this electro vision that accompanied you on your sleep.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Pile 9

two of swords, the high priestess, the devil.

So uh, a lot to unpack here. First things first, like pile 7 based on the story that the cards are telling me, I don't see you having a vision right now, but you will have one in the near future. Funnily enough, you guys also share with pile 7 that you will have a cryo vision. So yeah, I just wanted to be straight forward with it in case you don't care about your backstory that much because it doesn't really mention how you got the vision, I just a very general idea of how it happened.

So your story is that you're feeling trapped, and like if things are out of your control, and that you have to make this big decision between two friends. I feel that one of them is trying yo leave, it could be from town, or organization/institution, or isn't happy with the friend group anymore and how it has changed. And they're your best friend so of course you want to support their decision, but you have another really close friend that isn't happy with they wanting to leave, and this ideals they have, so both of them start fighting with each other. And you are such a loving and caring friend, you don't want to see them fight, so you're trying to mediate the constant argument, and trying for them to reconcile, and it's very stressful because none of them wants to give in and compromise. And this is pretty much what the cards say, except for the high priestess, that is encouraging you to trust what you believe, and take action, follow your intuition, etc. So my guess is, you guys realize that the argument is pointless, and let your friends know, and kinda distance from them yourself from them because you realize they're not the friends you've always loved anymore, and that their change is not really the best thing for you right now, and then when you do that and you accept it and really embrace and believe in your decision, you'll be granted your vision.

**As in all the PACs, just take what resonates and leave what doesn't, this is for entertainment only, so have fun with it!

Thanks for reading!

I usually write this notes before doing the readings, so I don't really know how it went, BUT I can already tell this is gonna let me feeling really tired.

So yeah, I'm drained, it's been two days and a lot of hours spend on this so future me can worry about spelling mistakes to fix. If I ever do a PAC this long again, I better get paid or something this felt like working 12 hours straight, I had so many issues with the formatting it's not even funny, and don't get me started with pile 5, or that error I had with the poll, or the fact that the cryo users didn't have a vision yet. Anyway, this will be my only 9 option one in a while, the next ones will be back at 3 options, 4 if I'm feeling generous.

All jokes aside, it was really fun and I really wanted to do this PAC, so it's still worth it. Can't wait to read what you guys think, lot's of love! 💕

You can find more of my PACs on my master list, and if you have any suggestions on future PACs you want to see me do, you can send me and ask.

Bye byee ✨

[haljathefangirlcat]

Sharing headcanons with you makes me realize...despite Gunther being the oldest Nibelung sibling (and possibly co-king even in his father's lifetime, ala Rosengarten) he's also the least specialized. Hagen/Hogni is the intense and super-strong one, Gernot/Gutthorm is the brave one, Giselher is the young one, and Gudrun/Kriemhild is the sweet one, and Gullrond if she's there might be the smart one. And then of course he gets the most awesome brother-in-law/blood brother who goes around fighting his battles for him. In real history, there's also the fact that his father in fact established their kingdom on the Rhineland, so Gibich must have had some big expectations for his eldest son. While he's no slouch, and rocks some serious musical talents in Norse sources, there's always this subtle feeling of inadequacy to Gunther. He's always pushing himself too hard but it turns out it's never enough. He must have some crippling feelings of inferiority that he's keeping behind that kingly facade.

(And now I imagine Oddrun giving him a "stop trying to be your father, live for yourself for once" speech, that results in him very impulsively doing the sneaky sneak with her.)

... okay, that last bit about Oddrun is just the sweetest thing! And very tragic, too, but I guess that comes with the territory. XD But jokes (and angst) aside, it really does sound like a very genuine and important connection and I love it.

As for Gunnar/Gunther himself, well...

I have to confess that, once, a lot of my ideas used to lowkey fall into the uncahritable "Gunnar/Gunther is kinda useless/weak" interpretation. But thanks to papers like “Mit (un)lobelichen êren”: Authority, Gender, and the Cause of Siegfried’s Death in the Nibelungenlied by Casey Alexis McCreary (about specifically Siegfried, Gunther, and Brunhild in the Nibelungenlied), as well as some influence from dear @galarix and @ivylili, I ended up re-evaluating him a lot both in the continental and Norse sources.

In the latter, I now find it really striking how he did want to leap over the flames, he did want to risk everything to go about the whole thing the right way. But he couldn't, and after that things increasingly spiralled out of his control in all the worst ways... and yet, even in the end, even with some admittedly pretty bad choices in the middle, he was no coward and went out with literally as much dignity as Hagen in the Nibelungenlied, using almost the exact same trick as him to defy his enemies and captors to the end.

In the former, I now find him not a bad king for Burgundy at all, but actually rather clever and resourceful in some moments. The paper I mentioned above actually does a very good job at arguing that he is pretty good at politics, it just that both Siegfried and Brunhild show their royal authority through heroic feats, with impressive shows of brute strength and charisma, so at first glance it's hard to recognize his qualities when they're the ones taking all the spotlight.

But actually having your own, solid good qualities and value, even when other people know about them and acknowledge them, isn't always going to be enough to make you feel satisfied with yourself...

I do still think he has an emotional, hotheaded, and impulsive side that he only learns to control slowly through the years and still gives him trouble sometimes even later on, tho. And as I previously said, I also see him as someone who was forced to take on the responsability of both his kingdom and his family too suddenly, and at too young an age, and always felt the weight of it all hanging above his head like the proverbial Sword of Damocles after that. And, taken together, that would all boil down to a lingering sense of self-doubt, I believe...

When it comes to his place in his family... or rather, families, I tend to see him as the brother who tries to be a proper head of the family, to bring honor and glory to his bloodline while also taking care of his siblings, but sometimes that all becomes too much to bear, and then he feels guilty about it because, is it even okay for him to feel that way? (It's certainly human and understandable, imo, and I think other characters would tell him that, too, but he'd rather keep that all inside until he blows up about some other, unrelated issues due to all the tension that's been building up, lol.)

The harp thing in the Norse stories is fun because it kinda looks like it comes from nowhere to give him a little bit of an Orpheus moment (soothing beasts with music, anyone?) as well as adding that tiny little bit of hope in desperate times only to rip it away right after. But I do like it a lot. I headcanon an interest and a talent for music for both Gunnar and Gunther that, unfortunately, neither of them ever really had the time or the conviction to make into more of a thing. Lately, tho, the multishipper in me who OTPs Volker/Hagen but also loves Gunther/Hagen has actually been playing with the idea of Volker and Gunther becoming closer (either as friends/friendly metamours, or as two people who, perhaps without even really realizing it, are inching their way into forming a throuple with their mutual partner) through Volker encouraging Gunther to revisit his old interest and reconnecting with what made him feel so good about it. But, well, that's another story...

And now, a bit of bonus Wagner because god, those three messed-up Gibichungs: Ring!Gunther is, like, the personification of an inferiority complex. He's literally introduced worrying that all his warring and conquering may not be enough (will maybe never be enough?) to live up to his late father's name. Hagen's mere suggestion that he's been keeping mum about some possible new conquest that could bring him honor pretty much sends him into a panic. He flatters Hagen (the same brother who's illegitimate and only half-human state he'll later callously throw in his face when all's said and done) by saying he's the lucky one who got all of their mother's cunning, but is it all flattery (especially when Alberich pretty much confirms the similarities between Hagen and Grimhild, and he doesn't really need to lie about it after doing his best as far as we know to isolate Hagen from full human beings) or is there some genuine envy there? Brunhhilde literally just needs to tell him he's shaming his family by refusing to kill Siegfried to have him wrapped around her little finger...

(Not that Ring!Hagen and Gutrune aren't also walking talking inferiority complexes in their own respective ways. I am unwell about that family.)

[elismor]

In 1997(ish), 26 year old Elis (yeah, go on, I'll wait while you do the math) was having a lot of what would now be called discourse with fellow fans about slash.

Back then, it was assumed that if you didn't like slash, it was and could only be because you were homophobic. I actually had a fandom friend not come out to me because she assumed I would react badly to her being gay because I did not like slash. (Very much not true--I do not, nor have I ever, cared what other people do in their bedrooms.) My reasons for not liking slash were tied directly to the fact that I saw it as baseless from a strict interpretation of canon. EX: Never once do we see Dean Winchester be interested in or date or sleep with anyone who does not present as female, ergo, slashing him with Cas or Sam or Benny or whomever is "out of character".

Yes, I am aware Dean did not exist in 1997. Hence the EX:

This is (and was) a very narrow way to consume media.

In the early 2000s, 30-something year old Elis, was having a lot of discourse about RPF on LJ. By then, it was not about slash, per se, but rather more of a "these are real people and we should not be writing about them this way" sort of deal.

EX: Joey Fatone is married and I think he has kids even? And while that might not mean he is straight, there has been no evidence presented to us that he is either gay or bi and these are both things that come with a lot of stigma attached in the real world.

So...also tied to "canon" in some ways and also a very narrow way to consume media.

By 2005, I was writing Dominic Monaghan/Billy Boyd RPF and now I write mostly slashy stuff, even if it's not explicitly dealt with in the piece.

My point in telling this story? Threefold.

People learn and grow as time passes and we should all be open to that in others and--more importantly--in ourselves.

Examine your biases. Really look at them and ask yourself "is this serving me as I move through the world?"

Allow for both of the above in fandom. I am not the same Elis I was when I was 25. You will not be the same you tomorrow, let alone 27 years from now.

Not if you're doing it right, anyway. Hold your opinions dear, but be open to growth.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

This is the follow-up to my research call. I really appreciate all the asks you've sent, it was eye-opening. I understand that sometimes it gets difficult to talk about things that show perhaps a more pettier/uglier side of ourselves, but we're human and as much as we try and act as if we have the right opinions all the time, that's mostly not the case.

Before I go on and talk about these asks, I want you to read them first. Please click on each screeshot because some of them are quite long. Tumblr only allows me to post 10 images, so if you don't see your ask here, it means I will add it in the next batch. I also want to mention that you can still send your asks, I decided to post all of them because I think this is an important topic.

I've noticed that a lot of us (including me, because I allowed myself to be anon for this little experiment too), are dealing with a lot of internal conflict between how we are supposed to think and what we actually believe.

Despite this being a way to share our feelings, a lot of people couldn't help but explain the rationalization behind it. Almost as an excuse for our behavior. We judge ourselves so much and there is this awful pressure of being the right type of fan, the right type of person, etc. We know we shouldn't judge the women in the rumors, but we still do. We are aware that our own personal issues are at the roots of why we react the way we do when we see these rumors, but we still feel miserable despite having self awareness.

Someone mentioned something about how it can be taboo to have a real talk about why are drawn so much to these relationships, real or not. I want to expand on that and say that it's also taboo to really express our feelings. Because it can make us look like crazy fangirls and not the mature fans that we are. It's expected to say "I'm happy for my bias either way and from now on I will not ship him romantically with his bandmate". When in fact, it has proven from your own stories, that people would also want to say "I feel weird and hurt because my beliefs don't match with the rumors".

There is no magic switch that will turn someone from shipping two bandmates to suddenly change their mind over night and that to not have an effect on that person and the way they think of their biases and of themselves too. It is about that idol dating rumor, but it is also about the stories we tell ourselves, about what we have come to believe for so long.

And then there are those who are firm in their belief and are displaying this assurance in their own logic and the way they interpret what they see.

There is also shame in judging our bias for their choices in potential partners. I find that absolutely normal. Sometimes we judge our best friend for their shitty choice of partner, why wouldn't we treat that idol the same way?

I'm not here to offer solutions in better dealing with it. I believe we are all aware of how being involved in kpop shipping and having a bias is affecting us on a personal level. Perhaps there's too much self awareness and we should instead have more fun 😅. No, my point was to offer more of a platform and a way to perhaps realize that we struggle with similar things and each can take away from this what they want.

[mxi-88]

Amy Kiriwo redemption is real and here's why (an analysis/speculation)

Ok. I don't normally make posts like these but since I've posted Iruma-kun art on this blog a few times some of you may be aware that I really really REALLY like Amy Kiriwo. I really adore Mairuma in general but Amy specifically makes me go fucking coconuts as a fan of that type of character (obsessive, desire-driven, yandere, whatever)—and also because Amy has a certain unique charm about him, whether that be the gap between his twisted personality and his ditzy demeanor or the unique setting, so on and so forth. But I also tend to like villainous characters in general, because they're so unhinged and fun and interesting to think about!

Usually I hate when characters like these get redeemed because the whole appeal of them is how unpredictable and outrageous they are in their villainy, and more often than not, a redemption gets rid of (or at least severely dampens) these characteristics!

HOWEVER. I just caught up with the manga for the first time more or less since Deviculum last year and I just cannot help but feel absolutely insane about how much a "redemption" (heavy quotes here) for Amy is being built towards, and yet I rarely see much discussion about this in fan buzz. This is both in terms of general narrative structure as well as a certain scene in the recent Battler Party arc.

Disclaimer: I have terminal brainrot and some of this might be confirmation bias. But maybe it will still give you some food for thought. It's cool if you hate Amy and don't agree with my interpretation just be nice ok guys?

Part1: Iruma's Belief

I think a good jumping off point for this argument would be addressing a point of contention I've seen floating around in this fandom sometimes: Why does Iruma still believe in Amy?

I actually understand why some people might be confused about this. After all, Amy has done nothing but hurt Iruma and the people he cares about, and he has every right to feel upset, angry, and betrayed after he found out the senpai who he'd related to and looked up to so much was nothing but a facade.

Putting his reasons aside for a second, this scene in Deviculum isn't actually the first time Iruma has acted like this toward Amy. It's easy to miss or forget about, but even after everything that happened at the Battler Party, Iruma never shows any hostility, even retroactively, toward Amy.

He kept what happened with Amy a secret from even Asmodeus and Clara—but he doesn't fret over it like he does hiding the fact that he's human. Iruma just doesn't think it was pressing enough that Asmodeus and Clara needed to know about it. Of course, keep in mind that Iruma doesn't interact with Amy at all from the Battler Party all the way until Deviculum, so he doesn't know the extent of the danger he's actually in.

I think Iruma believes in that weak but ambitious demon he met during the Rookie Hunt. Even if Amy revealed himself to have that perverted obsession with despair, even if he tried to kill his classmates and cause chaos, I think to Iruma it doesn't change the fact that Amy is still weak, just like him.

I think a lot of people forget just how much impact Amy had on Iruma when he was first adjusting to the demon world: he didn't have much of a real ambition until he saw that there were demons like Amy who (seemingly) wanted to make the world a more equal place for those without magic—those like Iruma. (A side note, but I imagine this made the part of Amy's speech during Deviculum saying there would be no place for him particularly hard for Iruma to hear from him specifically).

The thing is though—Iruma isn't being entirely naive here. It's true that no matter what Amy does, evil or otherwise, he cannot change the fact that he was born with weak magic.

It's constantly pointed out that Amy relies on magic that's not his own.

It's pointed out so consistently every time he makes an appearance that for a while I thought there was gonna be some weird twist where it wasn't actually Amy? I'm still not confident in how to pin this obvious foreshadowing but for now I firmly believe it's meant to remind the reader that Amy is dependent on his borrowed magic, most likely from Baal—physically, and maybe even emotionally? (It seems possible from the way Asmodeus's narration in this panel is framed that there could be something more insidious at play like experimentation or something, but that's just speculation)

Amy is dependent on most likely Baal's magic just like Iruma is with Sullivan's magic. They may be gaining more and more power to the naked eye, but the moment the "tool" to express that power is stripped of them, they're helpless again. There's a reason Nishi highlighted the direct parallel of both of their magic devices being ring-shaped.

Iruma believes (or wants to believe) that the facade Amy showed him had a glimmer of truth to it because of how strongly it affected him. Of course, it's also because Iruma is an inherently kind and also selfish person. In my opinion, he wants to have the Amy who he looked up to so much, even if he barely ever actually existed. This is why what he declares to Amy at Deviculum is framed as a desire. This is a strong theme of the series and it's something I'll touch on again in another section.

I feel like I should mention after all of that talk that I don't think Amy is actually secretly tortured about his weakness/abandonment or some sadboy schtick like that. We'll get into this more in the next section, but any self-pity or anger he once harbored was something that was flushed out of him quite thoroughly. Right now, he is very much narrow-mindedly concerned with his obsession with eating Iruma, his goals are aligned with Baal and the 6 Fingers, and his lack of magic is solved by his collar, so it's natural he doesn't really care.

I feel like any discussion of Amy's motivations or themes gets shut down a lot with accusations of "making a villain character sympathetic for no reason" when really I only care about villains being interesting. Like I said at the start, the last thing I wanna do is take Amy's unhingedness or autonomy away, because it makes for a really enjoyable villain. I just genuinely believe that Amy is being framed this way deliberately, and I think it opens some fascinating avenues for his character development other than just "Iruma realizes Amy is actually evil after all because unconditional belief is for naive WEENIES and they defeat him".

Anyway, that leads me to the next section, which I admit, is a bit heavier on the interpretative side, hence my disclaimer.

Part 2: Baal

Listen, I know it's a shounen manga and all, but keep in mind Amy is still a 17-18 year old teen. He doesn't have much life experience. He had a hell of a shit childhood even if he did have a weird sadism thing going on. All of these things don't excuse his evil deeds—obviously. But I do think taking these factors into account is absolutely necessary if we're going to try and understand why he is the way he is.

I'm not gonna recount it beat by beat, but as a kid Amy was not only shunned by his family and peers for his lack of magic, but also by his only friend for something that

"Grooming" is a term with very heavy connotations that I'd like to avoid, but at the very least the way Baal takes Amy "under his wing" is very reminiscent of cult conditioning. Members of cults are often recruited in strained or distorted emotional states in which they have a greater desire for acceptance. This tactic is successful in maintaining loyalty in cults because the members are convinced that no one else will accept them besides the cult figurehead or leader—the result is usually a hostility for the world outside of the cult, paranoia about leaving the cult, or both.

Amy, a young child at this point, says outright that he's being ostracized for his behavior, but Baal validates it, and thereby earns his loyalty. Amy is a child at this point; even if Baal claims he's more "twisted" inherently, I think it's unreasonable to characterize them as equals in this relationship, especially when Amy depends on his magic. I think the Amy we know could be very different if he joined Baal when he was older and less impressionable.

You could say Baal didn't validate Amy with the active intent of emotionally manipulating him, it was just a declaration of his honest beliefs—and I honestly half agree with you. Functionally, however, I do still believe that a conditioning process is what happened. In this same scene Amy seemed to still be at least a little bit troubled about how gifting his horn to his friend troubled her and reflected on his abnormalcy, but by the time he reveals all to Iruma, he shows no reservations at all. He doesn't really reflect on the hierarchy which caused him so much suffering outside of how it contributes to more chaos, more despair.

This interpretation (which I've held for quite a while) brings me to a certain scene in the recent Battler Party arc that was eerily reminiscent of this dynamic. It was what spurred me to type all of this out at 5am on a Monday night.

Humor me for a minute, because I realize the comparisons between Palome/Galna and Amy/Baal are not 1:1, but I feel like there are enough similarities that it's worth talking about.

The idea of a demon with twisted perversions which were encouraged by a sibling figure with an ulterior motive is already a pretty compelling parallel to me, but the fact that it was specifically the story behind the Magitool's Battler Party exhibition makes me think that, just maybe, the parallel might have actually been an intentional allusion.

In particular, the line about Palome "facing her desires earnestly" caught my attention. Quite honestly it seems like Amy's fixation on Iruma has become his #1 priority—and although he certainly has returned to origins (strongly associated with base desires) in my opinion his obsession with Iruma, as twisted as it is, is probably the strongest desire he's felt that exists somewhat removed from Baal's direct encouragement. It's personal. It doesn't serve a greater purpose in Baal's plan. Remember the cult analogy I loosely used for comparison earlier? Cult mentality punishes individuality. Food for thought.

There's this great comic by gigausagi on Twitter (it's 🤏shippy so only click if you're cool with that) that explores the idea of Amy's obsession with Iruma conflicting with the will of Baal/the 6 Fingers—I think this is one perfectly natural way his character could develop. I'll get into more detailed hopes/hunches about this later, though.

If the Palome/Galna parallel is an intentional parallel, I think it's really interesting how much it emphasizes the lack of empathy Galna has for her sister because of how it would in turn highlight that feature in Baal, something that I previously had to desperately piece together from subtext. On the other hand, for all the familial fondness Amy seems to have for Baal, at least on some level however shallow, it's already pretty obvious Baal does not care much about Amy outside of how useful he is to his cause.

It might seem silly of me to clarify this considering he's, y'know... the villain, and their thing isn't exactly friendship and rainbows especially considering their beliefs. None of the 6 Fingers display any real fondness for each other—Amy is just the exception here, albeit small.

And Baal does actually have belief in Amy—he believes in Amy's "messed up head". He believes that Amy will prove useful; he believes in Amy's potential for evil. It's a transactional belief, benefitting the cause that they both align themselves with—and which, notably, ends with him in power. Iruma's belief in Amy is largely the opposite. He believes that Amy is capable of good, and his belief in him is founded in the bond they formed.

I also wanna make it clear again that this isn't me scapegoating Baal for everything Amy does because that's lazy and boring and they make it pretty damn clear Amy is all-in on their plans together. However... I don't think it's unreasonable to think this contrast could be a set-up for something in the future.

How could this manifest? Who knows. Right now Baal is more of a passive villain, so it's hard to predict the kind of drastic actions he could take before he does them. Maybe Amy will outlive his usefulness, or maybe there'll be some internal conflict within the group that will strain their allyship. Or maybe Amy's personal desires will conflict with the goals of the 6 Fingers like I mentioned earlier.

Ultimately I'm more concerned with the thematic implications of a conflict like this, which brings us to...

Part 3: Desire

(Spoilers for 2nd Year Battler Party Arc)

I find it veeery interesting the way the protagonists keep aligning themselves with demons like Beem.

They are extremely desire and thrill-driven, I would argue more than any other non-returned to origins demon we've met so far—their parents even suspected they could be returning to origins as a child.

Mairuma has such an overwhelming theme of desire. Mairuma wants you to chase your most private, most shameful, most visceral and selfish desires. Sylvia even went through her evil cycle she was so desperate to fulfill her desire to paint Galna. Mairuma again and again seeks to tell us that there is nothing wrong with being selfish and reaching for what we want.

So far I've talked about two desires that are relevant to the future of Amy's character.

And yeah... it's pretty much spelled out for us here. So, if Amy is still latched onto the idea of eating Iruma, and Iruma is still latched onto the idea of his relatable senpai, how would that conflict be resolved? Well... We've basically been talking about it this entire time. Indulge me for a bit and let me spin the scenario that plagues my mind for you.

I briefly alluded to the possibility of Amy being subjected to some kind of experimentation, presumably to enhance his magical ability. It doesn't have to be this exactly, but nevertheless Amy ends up doing something drastic in order to fulfill his desire of eating Iruma—and in the process either gets used by Baal and the 6 Fingers and thrown away, or intervenes, inadvertently throwing off their plan enough to have him meet a similar fate. It's important here that his magic is taken away somehow—maybe the ring in his collar gets crushed or something. I think it could also be interesting if during this conflict Iruma also lost his ring, or even took it off willingly, to level their footing.

The point is that Amy follows his desire to the point of veering off the path of outright villainy, and onto that personal desire I spoke of earlier.

However, one thing I'm absolutely sure of is that Iruma's desire will be granted. I don't have as much of a concrete picture of this, but I would be extremely shocked if Suzuki "I want to pick everything up" Iruma ever goes back on his desire—especially when it was that first confrontation with Amy that he realized that was his desire in the first place. This, combined with the ominous ass dialogue "It's too late for me, Iruma-kun..." from the panel at the start make me absolutely certain that some sort of Amy redemption is coming—I only wanted to lay out some of my thoughts about it.

I don't think any redemption he gets will cause him to be watered down—Nishi writes way too many unnecessarily insane scenes with Amy for her to just stop cold turkey in my opinion. And even if it ends up incorporating none of the talking points I delved into in this post, I'm still sure that she could do an outstanding job with the task.

And lest we forget how Amy saved him from falling to his death. I think this desire to keep Iruma from dying meaninglessly (or being harvested for his magic or whatever crazy shit 6 Fingers are doing) is also quite a likely point of conflict that could come into play.

What do you all think? Have I gone coconuts? Is anyone else overthinking this the way I am? Is it not that deep? To tell you the truth I probably could have written even more but it's now 8am and I need a power nap. Might edit it up some more when I wake up. Let me know...

[firerose]

Guys………….why can`t Sabine date Ezra/ Shin and Ketsu all at once?

Why have endless Ship wars if we could just make up scenarios of a happy poly relationship instead?

[daisywords]

I will do my best but at the end of the day "good representation" is always going to be secondary to my quest to create the most specific Little Guys in the world sorry

[artheresy]

An argument over whether or not Dan Heng is Dan Feng seems to have begun getting sparked again in certain parts of the Fandom and it does nothing but hurt my head to no end

Both sides cherrypicking or treating it like a strange situation, making false equivalents. "Yknow governments don't consider people who've lost their memories to be separate people" that's a flawed argument to use in favorite of DH = DF because it's not just he lost his memories. He literally grew up, experienced his own childhood, had a whole identity cultivated based on those experiences and that life and continues to live his own life. To treat the situation like it's just him getting a bit of amnesia is wild to me

But also I hate when people continue to insist he's running from Dan Feng and his past and how he's miserable and shouldn't ever confront the past and deal with it as if his and Blade's whole stories aren't centered around rebirth and karma, paying for your past life's karma. He needed to confront the past to ensure a freer future! He literally has!! And he will continue to do so because he realizes this, DH isn't dumb and he's grown since we first saw him. He understands

But yeah uh I'm so tired

This whole thing feels very Ship of Theseus. What makes the ship what it is, the physical aspects of its planks, its sailing history, or both?

For him, the question is what makes someone who they are? Is it the body that makes them up and any inherent genetic factors (like traits)? Is it their experiences, how they've grown up, and the identity they've developed in that time? Or is it both factors mixed together?

Personally in the case of Dan Heng, I think it's both! Yeah he has a lot of traits from Dan Feng. There's a lot inherently there. But we can't disregard his own experiences and the identity that has formed based on his history and what he's seen.

Again I can't stress this enough... It is a false equivalent to compare him to people who lose their memories or get amnesia, he didn't just lose those memories. He started life from the beginning, a whole different kind of life. And even then, the amnesia topic comes with its own debates. Isn't there a whole other thought experiment regarding someone put to trial who ends up with amnesia and what their verdict should be?

I guess in the end, it's all up to people's own philosophical beliefs after what constitutes a person. My personal belief that DH and DF will always be connect but the separation between them is also meaningful is something based on my own ideas of what consisitutes a person and their individual identity, similar situation with how I see Rukkhadevata and Nahida as connected but still not the same person exactly. At the end of the day again, it's personal beliefs

But what I can't stand and can't stand by, is someone acting all high and mighty like they're perfectly right and everyone else is wrong, especially when they're cherrypicking or not holding all their evidence to the same standard. According to some ppl, apparently it's better in the CN fandom where instead of treating it like "I'm right you're wrong" people have divided themselves into "DF and DH one person" and "DF and DH two people" groups and most importantly of all, they treat both like theories and just keep to their space and tag which they believe when it's relevant. Why can't we just do that? Why can't we follow in their footsteps instead of bringing up this argument every so often with the same tired flaws from both sides?

[irregularbillcipher]

do love how many of us bill cipher flatland truthers heard "when bill destroyed his home dimension, he killed everyone he'd ever known" and all simultaneously decided "well except kryptos. he knew kryptos. he kept kryptos :)"

[godsfavoritescientist]

I will die on the hill that ford's paranoia is not a character flaw

[vegalocity]

sometimes i wonder why 'modern greek mythology interpretations' tend to look at the Aphrodite's Affair situation and settle on 'it was so girlboss of Aphrodite to cheat on her husband with his literal brother' and make jokes about Hephaestus being 'cucked' or 'an incel' when memes about publicly humiliating cheaters are absolutely widespread on the internet, and in the myth itself Hephaestus basically just does the equivalent of the 'welcome home cheater' on the bedsheets meme, it's VERY weaksauce in comparison to what his mother usually does

then i remember Hephaestus is a disabled man and i realize exactly why.

[emblazons]

The fact that I’ve been searching for true and actual positive reactions to the mlvn romance from the duffers and have yet to find a single comment about it 12 pages and 20 min deep into a search is absolutely wild to me fr.

Like…I literally typed in the duffers, Mike and Eleven, “romance” + other keywords…and not only was there never more than anything vague, by the second page of google (even when i filtered byler) it was always talking about how there was either a platonic inspiration or an issue between them…or how they switched to some other duo or grouping (especially in S2/S4) because it more compelling when they got to the writing.

Those brothers can’t stand that ship for real 😭😂

[strawberrycircuits]

ahahaahhahaha......... clem aroace flag palette ............... lol

lets hear it for aroace manwhore rights!!!!!!!